Directional layouts in central lowland Maya settlement

1 Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies, Faculty of Humanities, Københavns Universitet2 Institute of Archaeology, University College London3 Institute of Archaeology4 Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies, Faculty of Humanities, Københavns Universitet

DOI:

10.1016/j.jas.2013.01.011

Abstract:

This paper suggests the existence of non-random, directional patterns in the location of housemounds across the Late Classic Maya settlement landscape at Baking Pot, Belize, and then explores the wider implications of this patterning in the central Maya lowlands. It introduces an anisotropic method based on nearest neighbour bearings and successive grid offsets e in order to explore possible rectilinear organisation in settlement layouts despite the presence of uneven and irregular patterns of archaeological dating and recovery. The results suggest a grid-like distribution of houseplots and, by implication, also a set of routes running throughout the housemound landscape and local Maya neighbourhoods during the site’s Late and Terminal Classic history. Furthermore, different possible alignments in different parts of the site are tentatively regarded as an indication of shifting orientations to localised grids, following the shift in alignment of monumental architecture, as the settlement landscape expanded over time. Finally, we discuss the implications of these findings with respect to the broader interpretation of Maya settlement patterns.